Freshmen and college math

To fulfill general education requirements at Towson University, every student must take a course out of those listed in the section “College Mathematics” found in their undergraduate catalog. For the freshmen such as myself who wanted to get math out of the way, first semester is often the perfect opportunity to take a math class.

Classes with titles such as Mathematical Ideas, Algebra for Applications, and Introduction to Contemporary Mathematics might sound easy enough for a student without interest in math in high school, but this college-level math is difficult for many students.

According to an article published in St. Louis’ Suburban Journal, out of all their college courses, math is the hardest for high school students once they get to college. Though these students may have taken advanced courses in high school, math still proved a challenge in college. The reason for this could be lack of communication between state high schools and state colleges, who have different ideas of the mathematical skill undergraduates should have coming into an institution of higher learning.

Kalen Ponche writes:

“Even traditionally high-scoring schools had considerable numbers of students who weren’t prepared for college math. About 40 percent of the 251 college-bound graduates of Francis Howell High School, which typically has high state test scores, took remedial math classes in college.

Howell High Principal Chris Greiner said that figure surprises him because more students than ever are taking rigorous coursework. But more students are going to college, and skills among graduates are bound to vary, he said.

‘Our students who struggle more with math in college are those students who were not able to take as many math classes in high school,’ Greiner said.”

http://suburbanjournals.stltoday.com/articles/2009/09/26/stcharles/education/0927stc-math0.txt

This article describes in depth the changes in motion to be made in Missouri State schools to “close the gap” between high school and college lack of discussion on the topic of mathematical preparation. Unfortunatly, this article caters to the students in state school’s of Missouri, and Towson is a Maryland State School.

If I were to cover this topic, I would have several questions to ask that I know directly apply to Towson University’s math department and how our students feel about their math courses. 

I would ask students if they have an English native speaking professor, and if they do not, how that affects their learning capabilities in the course.
I would also ask students how they feel about their classes being in the 7800 building on campus, and if the issue of making it to a building at a far point from mid-campus affects even getting to the class to learn.
I would ask students what kinds of math courses they took in high school, and if those courses were affective in providing them a background in college mathematics. I would also ask the majors of all these students to determine the impact math will be having on their college careers for the next four or more years.